them. what's next? >> keith on twitter. 85 degrees yesterday. crazy, i blame you, bill karins. >> the midwest is -- i don't know how you do it. especially around the denver area.karins. >> denver 71 and 30 the next and now going to snow. we did the shirt for the 100 dollars that lasted a whole year. joke on us. we were supposed to raise 30,000 but they have raised $200,000. i'm going to start my own shirt company. great show, everyone. see you back here this morning. "morning joe" starts right now. ♪ >> you had mentioned that day -- owners of gun source, that extend the backgrounds checks. i'm just wondering why the burden of my mother being gunned down in the halls of her elementary school isn't as important as that. why is that is not something

that you can't support? >> erika, certainly let me just say that i'm, obviously, so sorry and for all of us here, no matter what our views are, for what you have been through and i think ultimately when we look at what happened in sandy hook, i understand that is what drove this whole discussion. all of us want to make sure that that doesn't happen again. >> that was senator kelly ayotte of new hampshire being questioned by the daughter of her mother who had had been gunned down by sandy hook. the daughter walked out of room saying, she had had enough." sam stein is with us this morning and columnist for the

bloomberg view, al hunt. we talk about that in a minute. obviously very emotional yesterday but, first, sam, you were at the white house yesterday. the president held a press conference. not great reviews for the president. jonathan coral, i think, asked a question and let's start the press conference with this and tell me what was going on. >> you still have the juice to get the rest of your agenda through this congress? >> if you put it that way, jonathan, maybe i should just pack up and go home. golly. as mark twain said, rumors of my demise may be a little exaggerated. >> but maureen dowd saying it is the president's job to get the

congress to behave. to get the congress to do what he wants them to do it's called leadership. he thinks he can do his thing from the balcony and everyone else will follow along and now how it works and dana millbank and howard fineman wrote the same thing. did the president admit yesterday that he couldn't get his agenda through congress, he is a lame duck? >> the backdrop of this is the gun debate, the inability to get something through the senate and what happened is sequestration and the air traffic delays, the quick fix that he did not want but sign any way. he did knitted the 60-vote hurdle in the senate he has to overcome is a big hurdle and he doesn't have the pours to guarantee anything will get over the 60 vote threshold. it was a defeatest type press conference in that respect he was saying, listen parts of my agenda will pass and wait on immigration reform and a historical achievement, it will pass but on other items, i'm

really -- i'm really -- my hands of kind of tied behind my back. i think what we really understated throughout this presidency is how much he misses things like ear marks, how much he misses ability -- ways to get lawmakers to come to his cause that are sort of subtle behind the scenes but ultimately effective. i think that has been a really undertold story. >> al, the word that came out of the press conference yesterday, heard from so many people he was reactive. dane ma millbank wrote this in "the washington post" yesterday. he ricocheted through his news conference as he has through the presidency between issues and crises not of his choice, obama seemed like a spectator as if he resigned himself to a reactive presidency. we have always talked about the thunder heads in congress. >> even when you were there. >> the exception. >> can i correct you?

especially when i was there. there were more thunder heads per square inch. >> i covered congress before you, joe, it was even worse then. >> we are at a strange point where the president is not even six months into his second term and he already looks like a lame duck to many people who are top analyst. >> this is a familiar pattern sometimes in second terms but if you look back at six months and where barack obama thought he might be today, i hate to use this analogy but he is like my washington nationals. expectations are pretty high and barely keeping his head above water. i agree with sam's examples but the sequestration itself -- >> isn't it fascinating, al? i remember a lot of us talking to the president before and talking to president's people, they really believed that the re-election would make republicans lay down their, you know, swords and bend them into

plow shares and it just didn't happen. >> it didn't happen. >> everybody warned him it wasn't going to happen and as sufficient in the second term as the first. >> they thought they would avoid sequestration and followed by guns. agenda, minimum wage increase, climate change, none of that is each being discussed. >> what does the president do? how does he get control of his agenda? >> it's one step at a time and i guess part of the concern is the insiders does he have the kind of insiders that he ought to have? but he can recoup some. i still don't think a budget deal is out of the question and won't be a grand bargain but they can keep coming back on guns and background checks aren't necessarily dead at all. >> i don't think they are at all. >> i think can you get immigration. when you start to put together a package like that over the next three or four months, he doesn't become fdr, joe, but isn't he a -- >> at the end of the year, al, you've seen this, i've seen it

repeatedly, every time you start counting somebody out you get to the end of the year and say, he got immigration reform, the background checks and got a smaller budget deal but, i mean -- >> that's not a bad year. >> that would be a very good year for him. >> if health care support of survives. >> hold on, sam. yesterday's press conference the president faced tough questions about the revolt at gitmo. some of the inmates in a hunger strike. president again said he wants gitmo closed. take a listen. >> i think it is critical for us to understand that guantanamo is not necessary to keep america safe. it is expensive. it is inefficient. it hurts us in terms of our international standing. it lessens cooperation with our

allies on counterterrific efforts. it is a recruitment tool for extremists. it needs to be closed. i don't want these individuals to die. obviously, the pentagon is trying to manage the situation as best that they can. but i think all of us should reflect on why exactly are we doing this? >> kelly o'donnell is here. kelly, the president said gitmo is not necessary. he said it's expensive, it hurts us, it lessens cooperation and it's a recruitment tool and he also promised us on the campaign trail he would close it within a year. >> he never -- >> i have a hard time believing that george w. bush, for all of his faults and failings would be wring is his hands four years in saying i'm doing something i'm going to do. >> i got a sense of subdued from the president that there were

issues he had to talk about and he wish he weren't having to talk about and outlining his views on guantanamo when so many in his party strongly believe and how congress has put up every barrier to think about moving the prisoners there to his home state in illinois. very frustrating. we have seen there allies around the world who want to see it closed but also those who have not cooperated by taking any of those in prison there. this was a tough news conference i think for the president. wasn't able to make a lot of news in his own way. there was a lot of dealing with issues that he has been living with for a long time. >> what can the president do? how can the president turn it around? you're on capitol hill all the time. he can get immigration bill even though marco rubio says right now the one that is out there is dead on arrival. you can see him getting a deal there. i understand in the house peter king is now moving forward with a background check bill. they have already got a hundred cosponsors in a couple of days. >> that victory might be sweeter if it comes around a second time and they are able to get

something on background checks to show that persistence can pay off with some of the senators who have been so key on that. in the senate side, they aren't giving up. there is nothing like success to create more success. if he could do what he wants on immigration and there certainly is an atmosphere in the country that wants to see that happen. i think the failure of background checks does create a new window where people are looking at that issue again where they are listening to those still upset about it. that might be even more poten now. >> immigration, a budget deal. i mean -- >> i agree the smaller budget deal. not the grandest of grand bargains but anything on that front is an -- >> the president owns the senate. he really does. he's got a democratic senate. he's 16, 18 under in the house. but, again, this is not a president -- we have criticized him on the show for four years, that does deals, that does what

reagan did, called democrats in. you weren't even born when, remember, aawax in reagan calle one member after another member over and got a lot of lbj. >> i notice the slight dig on my edge. >> you had to be alive during the reagan administration. >> your parents probably weren't born during lbj days. >> i'm a bill clinton baby. >> you could impeach bill clinton in the morning and in the afternoon -- >> that sounds like a country show, joe. impeach him in the morning. >> to al's point, i think we are sort of in this instant gratification mode right now where we need to step back and say these things can take a while. with background checks, for instance. after that vote died in the senate an important thing happened which is you saw this polling come out that showed that people who voted against the bill were suffering and people who supported it were benefiting. i think that lays the groundwork

for something more longer term legislatively. back to the first point i made. i think we are understating the fact that obama is really hamstrung by the lack of earmarks by the lack of pork he can hand out to the lawmakers as gifts to get them to the table. he has a fair amount of sticks in the form of organizing for america his campaign apparatus left over in the form of his popularity and ability to go out to a district and shame a congressman or congress woman into acting. >> they saw it at abuse and can be a great -- >> when you have 60 vote thresholds on all of these bills and 65 democrats you need to give the care rots -- >> i remember when reagan's second term was dead and he was

gone and can't deal with anybody. he came back. same thing with clinton. they did have more members of the opposition party they could deal with. they got tax reform down. is there a bill bradley or dan -- today? i suspect now. i think it's a harder environment. i think your criticism or our criticism of the way obama functions politically is absolutely dead on. i think there really is a lot of shortcomings there but it's a hard earned environment. >> a lot of nostalgia for those. >> i don't think the republican party is blameless in this. i think someone says if we compromise with this guy we will be vulnerable electorally. >> no doubt about that. >> joe, very few house members are scared or feel threatened. they think they are secure there is almost no chance, i believe for the democrats -- >> no, they are free agents. so many people are free agents.

you don't have, like i said the party leads that can pull them one way or another. let's talk about background checks. the plan to expand checks have been flounced in the house. mike thompson from california and peter king from california say that they now have more than 100 cosponsors for the bill. meanwhile, lawmakers voted against a background check in the senate are finding themselves in hot water in their home states. we showed you jeff flake's approval ratings in collapse. rob portman in ohio. also seeing an 18 opinion point drop and one of the senators is kelly ayotte from new hampshire who is facing angry voters back home as she works to try to defend that vote against become checks for criminals. >> i took a lot of heat. i will say from even members of my own party didn't like the fact i went to debate on this issue because we can have strong

disagreements but ultimately everything should be debated and discussed. >> then we showed the pp poll a couple of days ago. her approval rating down 15 percentage points. can i say i shocked a lot of people a couple of days ago when i said something about ted cruz. when ted cruz actually sat down, had the guts to actually sit down and talk to the newtown family members and explain why he was against the bill. and kelly ayotte, you and i have both seen a lot of congressman and congresswomen hide in their offices. maybe she had to do this but she had to know. >> this was previously scheduled. >> she had to know she couldn't cancel it and she had to go out and knew she would get bad clips out of it. >> i thought it was a bit disinjdisi disingenuo disingenuous. on the key vote kelly ayotte was not there and i think she will

keep getting heat up there. i don't think new hampshire is a huge anti-gun state law. if john mccain can vote for it, why can't jeff flake vote for it? rob potterman i think heat could be put on some of the republicans. but you can't win that vote until you get four or five more republicans. >> they can do that. why examine brasso and thune in south dakota and cornyn in texas to move on these issues. >> the groundwork is there for her. she will say a lot in manchin/toomey bill she did like and she voted for the grassley, i won't go into the detail about that but a little talked about alternative. she is from the live free or die state so are supportive -- >> she is a northeast republican. >> exactly. not up until 2016.

>> rob portman and she have to find a way there. >> mccain could the connection with jeff flake home state senator -- >> mccain could bring over flake' kelly. >> yep. >> on something -- >> the question becomes how do you get to the point you bring it back for a vote and was is the galvanizing moment? i'm still lost. >> you know what? those polls are pretty galvanizing. if you can get something through the ho u.s. that passes. >> you need harry reid to bring it back. >> you are talking about something here that george w. bush supported in 2000 and four and he also supported an assault weapons ban in 2000 and four. this is not radical stuff. then i think what some of these republicans are they look at toomey numbers go up six points and everybody else go down 15 points. >> we need sustained polling. >> right.

i think they are realizing. >> if the republican gets defeated is because they are out of touch and voted for tax increases, they have voted for things that are really -- >> tax increases, bailouts. >> i can't imagine other than the states you just enumerated that -- rob portman and jeff flake and kelly ayotte will not be defeat in primaries six years from now because of this vote. >> dr. brzezinski will be here. we are a little bit scared. along with abc news koki roberts. you are see is the obama rollout every day, more stories about the complications that obama care will cause in 2014. first, here is bill karins with a check on the forecast. >> a crazy forecast today.

unbelievable days for the first of may. we are in may. we are talking about people that have 8 inches of snow on the ground and they are walking out their door right now with shovels in areas of wyoming. look at the picture. look how much snow is on the ground here and that is estes park, colorado. this is crazy. it's 4 or 5 inches and still snowing hard and it looks like the heavy wet snow on the trees. if you're in the twin cities, minneapolis, this is headed your way! maybe even omaha, too, in areas of iowa. ridiculous. we saw those pictures coming from this area in here why where it's snowing pretty hard. denver the snow has not entered your area and it's 33 and cold enough for snow and it should be coming in shortly. not expecting a big snowfall in denver. maybe 2, 3, 4 inches but, still, it's may 1st. what is happening in the future in the the white on the map. all of northern nebraska it's now snowing. the cold air is moving to sioux falls and snowing in areas of minnesota. minneapolis you'll be rain. by later this evening, turn to

snow and as soon as the sun sets the snow will pile up. you understand your a winter storm warning. this is not my forecast, but one of the computers is projecting more than a foot of snow in minneapolis and wisconsin and maybe des moines. the computer doesn't take into the fact the ground is warm so half of these numbers. even 5 inches is a lot for the beginning of may. we will deal with a few strong thunderstorms. watch out central texas but i don't think we will deal with too many tornadoes. >> look at chicago. 83 and sunny and minneapolis rain changing to snow. temperatures dropping into the 30s. you're a hardy folk there in the midwest. we leave with you that winter wonderland. seven months of the year we have been dealing with this from colorado. you're watching "morning joe," brewed by starbucks.

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♪ it's time to take a look at the morning papers. "the wall street journal" home prices are rising at their fastest rates in seven years. up almost 10% in february alone according to a key index in some of the hardest hit markets in america. the gains are huge. home prices rose 23% from one year ago in phoenix and 19% in san francisco. . of course, that is not news in san francisco where they go up 19% every year but that is great news for phoenix, arizona, one of the states hardest hit. "usa today" yesterday in nevada company began dealing hands in legal online poker games for a u.s. website. experts believe this is the first step in what could become a billion dollar industry. new jersey and delaware have passed legislation opening their doors to online gambling and

other states are now expected to follow their lead which explains why willie geist is not with us this morning. he's in his apartment typing furiously. >> he has multiple screens. he looks like a wall street broker right now except it's like horse races across the globe. "the washington post" food and drug administration is rolling out plans to make the plan b morning after pill available over the counter without precipitation to girls as young as 15 years old. last month, federal judge ordered the agency to make plan b available to all women over the counter regardless of age. the white house has until may 5th to appeal the judge's ruling. "the wall street journal" again. last night, the man who was allegedly carjacked by the boston terrorists on the night on a deadly shoot-out with the

police gave his first tv interview. here is a portion of that tv interview. >> at the gas station, dzhokhar left the car to play and tamerlan fiddling with the gps. danny knew this might be his last chance. >> how do you that in your head? do you say, 1, 2 3r3 i was counseledicounting one, two, three, four. >> tamer all about grab me. >> you're running? >> i was running. i was just running as fast as i can and then they were -- they were -- never looked back. >> what a hero. we haven't talked about him enough. talk about the hero that really led to the arrest of these terrorists. unbelievable guts and thinking. cool thinking. >> would we be able to do that? i don't know if i would be gutsy. >> you could, kelly. with us now editor-in-chief

john ha john harris here with the morning playbook. a first look this morning at new jersey governor chris christie's first ad for re-election and take a look and then tell me what you're seeing, john. >> four years ago, new jersey was broken, run-away spending the nation highest taxes and unemployment on the rise. then we elected chris christie. he got taxes cut and spending cut and government made smaller and smarter. a real property tax camp working with democrats and republicans. believing that as long as you stick to your principles, compromise isn't a dirty word. the result? four balanced budgets in a row with no new taxes for anyone. the best job growth in 12 years. nearly 130,000 new private sector jobs. merit pay to reward new jersey's best teachers and the most education funding ever. but the most important thing he did has little to do with

numbers, statistics, or even politics. he made us proud to say, we are from new jersey. chris christie, the governor. >> so, john, i remember four years ago when he was running against jon corzine. few gave him a chance to win that race. i remember talking to a good friend of his a year after he was in new jersey. he said i have known chris most of his adult life. i don't recognize this guy. i never thought he would be this effective. this is a guy that has surprised friends and political observers alike the last four years. >> it's stunning. >> to me a fine ad if you're running for governor of new jersey but it fits unmistakable what we assume are his presidential ambitions in 2016. to me the ad is interesting

because it somehow merges two distinct strands of governor christie's appeal. a lot of republicans like him he is a tough guy conservative and willing to take on big spend liberals and other team like him he doesn't really care that much about ideology. those two ideas are kind in contention with one another pthink what this ad does is merge the two and reconciled them and exactly what he needs to do in a presidential race in 2016. >> al, we were down in asbury park. we are busy looking what is ahead that we don't just stop and say how remarkable it is that a republican in new jersey sitting with 70 plus approval rating, he is up 10, 15 points among women. this is a guy that has anything to do -- figured out how to unite new jersey and not an easy

thing to do. >> i don't no, because it's a blue state. i kept looking. when they showed him consoling the sandy victims was there a picture of obama in there? that would be good for new jersey but not so much for iowa. >> haven't it something, john, you have a guy 70% plus who everybody in the republican party should be embracing and those on the far right love kicking him around on talk radio, online. it seems to me that it only makes him look more irrelevant. >> right. and his challenge over the next four years is to make them more irrelevant by replacing this kind of ideological argument. by saying he passes any conservative tests by virtue of his toughness and aura and willingness to get things done. he has to replace effectiveness.

>> john, set the stage for us. >> this is a good news for a lot of republicans are saying around the country today. gabriel gomez won this election. democrats have shown in massachusetts they can muff it up there. scott brown is the best example of this. jim o'sullivan has a pretty good analysis on this this morning in "the boston globe." gomez looked like the appeal of scott brown. he is younger. handsome fellow. if anybody is going to catch democrats napping he looks like he is in pretty good position to do so. he has a hispanic background at a time when the democrats need hispanic faces to overcome their huge deficits i-it's going to be a big fight for him, uphill

battle. sam stein, it's not 2009. >> yeah. >> early 2010 where you don't have this explosion over obama care. >> yeah. >> i don't see a way forward for him but he looks like a pretty impressive candidate. >> very impressive candidate. wrong time. i think in 2009 in the obama care blow-back was galvanizing for republicans and had you that kind with martha coakley making a series of name missteps that cost her dearly. >> ed markey? >> he will make those mistakes but ed was well served by having a tough primary opponent because he was rusty and hasn't had a -- he did make some mistakes. one guy they didn't want to run again. i agree with sam's analysis. >> for our online betting, what are the odds. >> can i call willie? >> willie is too busy with the rain that is going on.

>> 3-1 democrat. >> 3-1 democrat? >> yeah. i think we shouldn't under estimate that the democrats will not underestimate this as well. they will not have a repeat of 2010 with scott brown and put resources behind it if they do and send obama up there but they will not lose that seat again. >> an impressive candidate, john. we will see what happens. thank you so much. we appreciate it. >> see you soon. coming up, baseball highlights straight ahead including the nationals and the braves. bryce harper home run is for the other team. we will be right back. everyone's retirement dream is different;

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for those that went to bed get you updated on the late baseball matches. and nba playoffs from last night. nats and braves two of the best teams in the national league. tim hudson goes deep to right field. bryce harper has a jump on it. he jumps and he leaps. oh, no. off the heel of his glove and over the fence. touch them all, tim hudson! home run! tim hudson also pitched three-hit ball through seven innings to help the braves to a nice and easy 8-1 victory owner

the nats and congratulations, tim hudson. career victory number 200 on the same night that you hit your own home run. joe, the braves are for real. >> the braves are for real. we have got a very depressed al hunt here. 162 games. it's a long season. it has to be sort of depressing if you're a nationals fan to see them start this way. >> expectations were so high. when i want to come up with 162 season -- game explanation, we had a real slump in august last year. we are just having an april this year. >> it's a young team, though. the real challenge is for the manager to make sure he turns them around. >> they have their best manager in baseball. >> they do. >> but maybe the weakest pen in baseball and. >> how is strasburg's arm going to hold you will? >> he has a 3.00 e.r.a. >> he just came out of a game and see how the arm holds up. >> bill, another team that has a lot of reasons to be upset, the angels who just key writing

massive checks and keep losing. >> blue jays and angels thought would come out of the american league. off to the worst start in franchise history for the angels despite boasting one of the best rosters at least on paper in baseball. last night angels lost to the athletics. oakland athletics. how many players can you name on that team? 10-6. >> moneyball, baby. >> 9-17 the angels record. josh hamilton their big off-season free agent signing? joe, he is barely above the mendoza line. he is batting .204. >> boy. i got to tell you, bill, we talked about this a lot and talked about it the last game of the season last year when josh hamilton just phoned it in and go -- i got to say he didn't go after a routine flyball in center field. the season ends. he has a bad attitude and you wonder why the angels were thinking that with all of his problems they were going to be the ones to write him a huge check and make everything okay.

texas fans wanted to get rid of him! >> they are taking heat off albert hpujols. he hasn't done half as much as he did for st. louis. >> as we talk about bad news, talk about the yankees. >> that's why willie is not here, right? >> exactly. the yankees adding another name to their long list of expensive players on the d.l. kevin youkilis on the 15-day d.l. with a bad back and joins jeter, rodriguez, granderson and teixeira and many others with their injury. the total salaries of the yankees now unable to play because of injuries? it comes to $97 million! $97 million! >> my lord! >> that is more than the team salaries of 16 other major league franchises! >> look who is on there. atlanta. oakland. teams that are doing well. this shows you you can't write checks if you want to get to the

world series. that's not the only way there give the yankees credit. amazing they are playing over .500 ball with five or six best players not doing a single thing for them. >> no doubt about it. >> maybe they are better off. >> what is coming up? >> coming up, could we end global poverty by the year 2030? we would like to think so but it seems far fetched. but members of the world bank seem to think so. ann annie lowrey will join us next about that.

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magazine is about the end of global poverty. and she writes. is this good news? >> yeah. this is really, really good news. >> okay! >> we have a good story. >> she writes in part this. at a news conference during the spring meeting of the international monetary fund at the world bank in late april, jim yony kim held up a piece of paper saying this is it who took over as president of the world bank last summer, this is the global target to end poverty. it sounds like the sort of ambitious goal that is greeted by standing ovation but unlikely to ever materialize development experts don't see it that way, though. the end of extreme poverty might very well be within reach. so the question would be, annie, how? >> so in no small part this is going to just be because of trends that are already existing extending themselves. so despite the really deep

global downturn that we had this form of extreme poverty kept on reducing over time. and so back in 2000, the world set this millennium government goal of cutting extreme poverty in half and met it five years early. a lot of this has to do with big countries like china and india keeping growing and lifting millions of people out of poverty every world. >> china playing a pivotal role in this? >> a huge role. half of the decline in this extreme poverty people living on less than $1.25 a deis due to china alone. it's lifted hundreds of millions of people out of this kind of poverty just by itself and it's driven really significant gains across the entirety of east asia. so, you know, for a long time, a lot of poorer countries that had a lot of poor people living in them were laggared but extreme

poverty has been hard to eradicate in africa but things are starting to lift there. >> what is making the difference there? >> some of these countries have implemented a lot better economic management policies and some of them have implemented things like electrification projects that have helped. and getting a handle on some of these health crises has helped also. >> it sounds like direct aid which we have been trying to do for years just doesn't have the impact that economic reform and economic growth has, right? you sound like either a jack kemp republican or a paul kruger democrat. we have to grow ourselves out of this problem. >> yeah. i think it absolutely aid matters. and we are talking about a lot of different trends going on at once. right? this is the whole world and this huge, huge big trend but i do think that if you're looking for any one factor that has been most decisive, it's been really, really strong growth in these kind of middle income countries

like china. that has been probably the single biggest factor but doesn't mean it's close to explaining everything that is going on. >> is there a bounceback effect here? is china's growth coming at a cost to american workers? and, if so, is the eradication hurt some countries while benefiting others? >> i think that in the long term, having consumers in countries, middle income consumers in countries like china and india will be good thing for the american economy and more important for the united states to export. globalization was a hard transition. i think that the united states is still dealing with that. but, no, this isn't as a game where you have hundreds of more people who are buying cars and buying medicines and buying american services that is going to be a good thing. >> staying in china second. somebody told me today they are

moving i think like 13 million people a year from the rural areas to urban areas. that really -- most of the real poverty is in those rural areas. that's an extraordinarily ambitious goal and i guess they are achieving it? >> yes. this general trend for countries to urbanize is important for two reasons. poverty is more dire in rulers areas and second workers are healthier once you move them to urban ones. again, it's a little bit more complicated than i'm making it sound but this has been a really, really important trend and it's going to continue and i think that for china, the real question is whether they can solve some of their infrastructure challenges, whether they can find greener forms of industry, whether they can make some of these cities a little bit safer and keep up with the infrastructure. but no, this title trend of people moving towards cities is pretty important and not just china but lots of country, for brazil and china. >> it matters to the middle class in china, but for those in

extreme poverty, does it matter that china keep up 7% to 11% growth rate per year but decline like a lot of us think it will to to 4% or 5% do the trends reverse themselves? >> the world bank set out this ambitious goal to lift and get the rate of global poverty to 3% which is leaving a little bit of room for some countries that are still going to struggle with some health crises and things like war that is going to prevent them. but its second goal is making this kind of growth more inclusive. it's not a given that countries growing really fast are raising people out of this most severe form of poverty and it is possible to grow really fast and not help people down this very, very bottom end of the income spectrum. so they are focusing on that. in a lot of countries you're seeing intrigue in equality like in the united states and not entirely the same reasons but something they are really worried about. >> this is not a test so i'm not going country by one by country. brazil is in the world's eyes

the next three years. the world cup three years from now and two years the olympics. a lot of people saying they will not be ready for the world cup. how is brazil doing? >> brazil is doing pretty well. i think they have done unusually well on making sure their growth has been inclusive and wen way they have done it with this amazing program where they just give money to poor people. it's a cash program that is proving successful at lifting people out of dire poverty but brazil absolutely has some challenges. there's some evidence that they have put a lot of money into the social problems but not enough into infrastructure and that could be a real problem and all of us, all of a sudden, you have the whole world look at you and expecting to be at these big global events. i think they are making a big effort to try to solve that but infrastructure tends to be a longer term -- >> sam? >> you passed the test.

>> you passed the test! that was great! that was the correct answer. sam, you you and i, sam -- she is good. >> yes! >> sam, you and i need to watch the world cup from nantucket. >> thank you so much. you can read annie's latest piece in the upcoming issue of "the new york times" magazine. look forward to that. still ahead on "morning joe," "hardball's" chris matthews. we be back with much more "morning joe." enough about the book, i want to hear about your date. well, he showed up in a van. [ women ] oh-awww. [ voices in background ] [ female announcer ] swapportunity. the opportunity to swap a higher calorie snack for a delicious 90 calorie yoplait light. ♪ sorry... about your date, the details of your date. [ female announcer ] just one swap a day helps keep the calories away. yoplait. it is so good.

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we have update on a story out of afghanistan. it appears 747 cargo plane crashed at bagram air field on monday. a key transportation center for u.s.-led military operations in the country. before we show you this, we want to warn you this video is disturbing to watch. a car's dashboard cam captures the plane taking off, slowing down and then literally dropping to the ground and exploding, killing all seven crew members on board. >> boy. >> we will be following that. >> terrible. >> coming up next on "morning joe," cokie roberts and chris

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to get the rest of your agenda through this congress? >> if you put it that way, jonathan, maybe i should just pack up and go home. golly. as mark twain said, rumors of my demise may be a little exaggerated. you seem so suggest that these folks have no responsibility and my job is to somehow get them to behave. it's their job. members of congress are elected to do what is right for their constituencies and for the american people. >> welcome back to "morning joe." top of the hour. a beautiful day here in washington. sam stein is still bus and joining the set, political commentator for abc news and npr senior analyst, cokie roberts. the host of msnbc's "hardball" chris matthews. he is the author of "jack

kennedy elusive hero. >> good to have you all on the set this morning. >> chris, you look at maureen this morning and you look at dana millbank and howard fineman. the reviews aren't positive for the president yesterday. >> you're laughing. >> i heard cokie. cokie and i winced at the same time. it's not my job to get them to behave. congress's job is to not behave and have 78% approval ratings and dragged. >> i thought it was a necessary press conference rather than a good one. he did one. the only question he liked was about the basketball player. the other question -- >> did you notice he played the four corner offense, joe, the four corner offense? slow it down, seven questions? >> right. >> in an hour? that's what you do. long answers that reduce the number of questions. guns didn't really get going a lot. you've been talking about that a lot.

he could have brought it up. >> it's strange his -- i mean, an amazing moment at the press conference. i mean, at the state of the union when he talked about guns and other times when he was very moving. you got a sense that it means a lot to him but there have also been times you talk to the administration that are close to him and say he wants to pass something, he doesn't want to go to war on guns. >> in that question that you still have the juice that jonathan carl asked him. he did say max baucus voted against this and he isn't even running again and the president chose to ignore that question. >> maureen dowd, it is president's job to get them to behave. to somehow get this dund eheaded congress to get them to do what

he wants them to do. it's called leadership. he thinks he will do his thing from the balcony and everybody else below will follow. >> it doesn't work. it does require leadership and it requires sometimes, you know, banging heads together and that -- >> have you seen this congress? >> good point. a fair point. it's a fair point. >> this is a bad congress. there have been many bad congresss before this congress. >> there have been quite a few. >> how does this rank? a. >> a moment during the reagan presidency and i talk about reagan and i love talking about lbj calling subcommittee chairman going, i understand that your bill has hit a snag. no. they don't do that any more. >> when you listen to those lbj tapes, that is lead leadership. he knows every detail of the

bill so he can make the trade and then when the person is getting kind of testy, he puts lady bird on the phone and says talk to bird. >> cokie does all of this history and you do, joe. franklin roosevelt trying to get rid of the senator in georgia. you can't do it. you can't threaten these people. maybe ayotte is vulnerable but i don't think heitkamp is. the boss has a misunderstanding of the constitution. the electorate knows what they are doing. keep republican congress, they will get a republican congress. >> chris brought up something that is one of the great american political stories. franklin roosevelt tries to purge the democrats in 1938 and he loses all of them except for one house member. but he is on a platform with walter george of georgia, right?

endorsing his opponent on the same platform! and he turns to him and says, it's nothing personal, walter. well, george takes it personal, right? so they come back to the senate. all of the roosevelt candidates have lost, right? there is a meeting of the senate leadership and one member says you know the president is his own worst enemy and walter george says, "not as long as i'm ali alive!" >> before reagan a scene i think i read it in time someone knocked his famous jelly beans on the floor. the congressman there stood horrified as reagan got on his hands and knees, on his hands and knees. he was 70 at the time. and picked up the jelly beans. don't worry about it, i got it. he is crawling on the white house floor hands and knees and

getting the jel jelly beans. anything to get a vote. let's face it. this president i'm not asking to pick up jelly beans but it shows the mindset. this is frustrating to me. when we talk about background checks you're six short. you know now that max baucus is retiring and saxby chambliss is retiring. kelly ayotte needs to find a way forward. they may not be easy gets but you go to them, chris. >> you now have the ammunition of pat toomey in pennsylvania rising in the polls. >> hold on one second. an important point. cokie just brought up, let's show really quickly the numbers of these polls and then you get to the punch line which is serve collapsing in the polls, except for pat toomey in pennsylvania who took this really courageous stand. what is happening to pat toomey in pennsylvania?

>> he is going up in the polls and people are saying explicitly in quinnipiac poll his handling of the gun issue is the thing they like. >> you were saying weeks before in the lead-up to the vote that this is going against what the people want. >> right. >> now it's being proven to idiotic members of the senate -- >> get a permission structure. how do you find a permission structure -- brings back chambliss and baucus? you're right. go for six. i thought what we learned from ted cruz, maybe in the worst way, have a vote and nail them and bring them back into the fold. ted cruz is a freshman but a tough guy and you want a tough guy? you got one there on the right but the president is not his strength. leaders from a different kind.

>> flaky is down 19 and not as bad for begich. >> what would you call ohio a purple state? i don't think it's a blue. i think you're seeing this in the purple states like new hampshire and ohio. >> arizona has a lot of retirees. they don't like what he did. >> and they had gabby giffords. >> gabby giffords. they had john mccain supporting it and now jeff flake against it. it's really -- >> i don't think retirees are gun people. just guessing. a problem in congress right now. did you see the results of the 2012 election? i think it's a good example why we have this conflict in

congress and between the president in terms of who is winning election. in philadelphia barack obama carried 85% of the city. good news that many carried the state. if you carry philly big like lbj or humphrey, you win the state but you don't win the house delegation because it's all in the city. if you will, wasting all of the votes with 85%, 90% pleuralities. 9 disturbs it's all republicans. what happens is the democrats grab all of the votes in the big cities, win the big states. it's good in terms of the electoral college but not good for the house. 52-48 they won. >> i think we are being a little over the critical about obama's ability to work with congress. not you. there was an antidote in "the new york times" how he couldn't per situate senator begich to support gun control because even after he sent someone up to

alaska he asked them to review a road project so lisa murkowski. he has worked congress subtly in those ways. redistricting a lot of members feel safe in their homes that they don't have to go out and support the vote and the only threat to their existence is a primary and the only way to get a primary challenge is working with the president especially on gun control. >> and never lose to a moderate. >> he made that point yesterday in his press conference. they are worried about their base and primary and the base feel that cooperating with him is evil. >> a point to be made about the president not being able to get the six or however more he should have gotten here. having said that, there's basic math that the senators and congressmen could be doing. the plan to expand background checks to all commercial sales announced by mike thompson from california and peter king from new york. they say they have more than 100 cosponsors for the bill. so we will watch that.

meanwhile, senator kelly ayotte of new hampshire who voted against expanded background checks and this is the simple math i'm talking about. how did she not expect something like this to happen or anybody who voted this way? she is facing angry voters back at home and also well-funded push by gun control groups to exact a political price for her vote. tensions boiled over at a town hall event yesterday. among those questioning the senator was eric ka lafferty whose mother was murdered in the newtown school shooting. >> you had mentioned that day -- owners of gun source, that extend the backgrounds checks. i'm just wondering why the burden of my mother being gunned down in the halls of her elementary school isn't as important as that. why is that is not something that you can't support? >> erika, certainly let me just

say that i'm, obviously, so sorry. and as everyone here, no matter what our views are, for what you have been through and i think ultimately when we look at what happened in sandy hook, i understand that is what drove this whole discussion. all of us want to make sure that that doesn't happen again. i took a lot of heat. i will say from even members of my own party that didn't like the fact that i voted to actually go to debate on this issue because i do -- we can have strong disagreements but, ultimately, everything should be debated and discussed. >> after the senator's answer, erica walked out of the room telling reporters afterwards, she had had enough. awkward and difficult moment. i believe erica is going to be on the show. no? okay. she's not going to be on but she

was. she had a lot of guts to do what she did. obviously, you all know inside of this. i stand on this so i'll be careful because kelly ayotte is definitely having a rough time. having said that, i have a feeling members of her staff, when they were advising her on which way she should go in there might have predicted this. >> the thing is this issue doesn't go away because people think -- you know what? it's going to leave because people will forget about newtown. even if newtown goes in the back of people's political mind, i don't think it will, the 30-second commercials will be brutal. >> final there is an organization. there is organization on the other side. i mean, it's always all been on the pro gun side. all of the heat. and now you've got michael bloomberg financing all kinds of campaigns on the other side and. >> gabby giffords. >> and gabby giffords and mark kaerl and it's going to be there. >> let's be frank and honest about it.

30,000 gun deaths in this country and sadly another mass gun violence in the future and focus the country's attention back on this. >> heidi heitkamp, yes, she is safe in north dakota at the moment but she has six years. why not take the stand now? >> i think i know why. >> why? >> there is no defensible position but understandable one. intensity. members of the nra are not -- their letter writers and -- >> in that state. >> 4-1. >> 94% of people in her state supports background checks. >> but she said she only heard afterwards from supporters who agreed with her position. >> she heard from 4% and -- >> you know the business, joe. you know intensity matters. >> i did, but you do know when you get up there. >> i'm trying to explain why they voted. >> i understand but i'm trying to explain -- >> they want to be in there for life. >> a lot of times that i would walk out of my office and go to

a vote and people would be sitting there, a new receptionist would be sitting there with his or her hair on fire saying the votes are 20-1 against us. i go, yeah, and, but! come on, they are phone banks. >> this is an advantage being in the senate opposed to the house. if she were up this time i'd get it but just elected. as sam says there will be another sden aincident and thenl have another vote. >> to him foley was a big part -- and also remember the great joe clark from pennsylvania? how do you think mr. schweiker got that seat? >> the ghost of '94, i understand. but things have changed. they have changed with newtown and we are talking about background checks for criminals. we are talking about terrorists on the fbi's most wanted list saying. >> i'm with you! who are you talking to? >> i know.

>> you get the people riled up the next general congressional election next year with the same enthusiastic. the thing is you ask a gun person what is your most important issue? guns. what is your least important issues? guns. my brother is one of these guys. >> what does your brother think about the background check? >> i haven't talked to him. >> i know him. >> the nra -- how do you know him? >> very well. >> the nra made this mistake. they should have done what they did in '99 after columbine saying we support background checks. we all know that when you start talking about assault weapons, it's a mess because assault weapons aren't really assault weapons. then you talk about semiautomatics. they go you're coming after my pistol. then you go, no, wait, wait, wait! >> against a ban -- >> let me make the point for a second. it is important -- >> so you can't support -- >> -- to underline how much the nra has screwed this issue up.

if they had given a background check they would not have seen this explode. this would not have happened for assault weapons. >> they are hurting themselves. >> the ghosts of '94 were congresswoman back to the districts and what we have been watching on this show this morning is the exact option. watching a senator go back to her district and get hell for opposing background checks. >> there's a lot of mythology about 1994. >> there is. >> i personally believe that the republicans won that year for a couple of reasons. one, having much more to do with health care than with guns. >> yes. >> the other with overreaching. you know? bill clinton ran as a new democrat and governed as an old democrat and the voters said that is not what we had in mind. >> i was the first republican elected to my area since 1873. i talked about guns but you know what? i was talking about tax increases and hillary health care. the whole time. >> right.

>> and also being the good southern populous talking about other things. >> that too. >> all of that work together. >> of course, i was. >> at the time. >> it's the end of the block. >> you're a courageous man. >> i am. >> we will end on a good note. >> i was also against the -- >> i think this president picks his shots. and he is very history conscious. not with us much but he meets with historians. the smart ones. what i think he it is is immigration reform and know the gold star in his second term like tax reform was for reagan or meeting with gorbachev. he'll get in the history books for immigration reform. he is letting rubio, like in a bicycle race he is the first bike. he is cutting the wind. the wind is coming at him. so i think he is very careful the way he is doing this because he wants the wind. he doesn't want to posture. he didn't want the issue.

he wants the wind and it's interesting to watch how he goes when he wants the wind. >> i think a lot of people are assuming immigration reform is getting through the house. lots of luck on that. >> i know but he is putting everything he has in that. i know the term with the anglo shortstop s. nonhispanic people. they are are not going with anything that says legalization or whatever the term is. i know it's a challenge but if he gets it through the senate, i think he might get a vote in the house. >> still ahead on "morning joe," president obama admits there may be bumps in the road ahead for his supportable health care plan but could it be worse than expected? we are going to an authority on the issue straight ahead, zeke emanuel. dr. brzezinski will join us on the set, first, coming up. i think he's in a good mood. new car!

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♪ what we now have is evidence that chemical weapons have been used inside of syria but we don't know how they were used, when they were used, who used them. we don't have a chain of custody that establishes what exactly happened. and when i am making decisions about america's national security and the potential for taking additional action in response to chemical weapon use, i've got to make sure i've got the facts. if we end up rushing to judgment without hard effective evidence, then we can find ourselves in the position where we can't mobilize the international community to support what we do. >> all right. a live look at washington at 24 past the hour. >> he is looking pretty good. >> dad, you look all right.

>> he looks okay. >> you look nice. >> he survived the week without your mother. >> i know. >> without eating anything! >> after the third day, he went on a hunger strike. >> i called. i said, dad, how are you? he said, well, i'm on a hunger strike and i said are you serious? he said, i will only eat english muffins and i don't like cooking. >> so she's back and he is back. >> something called carryout now in america. >> really? i'll have to investigate that. >> you should do that. >> not a very self-sufficient. joining us now former national security adviser for president carter, dr. zbigniew brzezinski. i met a gentleman from jetblue yesterday and he said he read your book, that every sentence was like a paragraph and that he had to read it three times. >> good p. he is trying to memorize it? >> he was just trying to

understand it. he thought it was important. >> so talk about what you just saw the president's approach on syria. what does he need to do moving forward? >> i think he has to bear in mind the fact that we are watching as sectarian war. not struggle for democrats but the sectarian war and really a war in a region that is volatile. the name of the game, i think, is to preserve some degree of american influence without american becoming the chief practi proceed twe have to keep that thing in mind. if we can fashion something with the russians, that is all to the good. if we can't fashion something with the russians, then we can support what we call democratic opposition which is the least flungs of the groups engaged in violence so we keep some degree of influence. my warning is don't plunge in on

our own. no boots on the ground. no air strikes. which are sucking us in. we will just become isolated. our adversaries will raise their hand. >> if you say to a child, if you do x, then that's going to be the disaster for you. and then no disaster happens. >> i think it's better not so say such things. >> right. >> that's how we started. >> assad must go he first said that. >> without the plan for making him go. now new red line. i think it's better to be a little more prudent. more prudent in statements and money consequen more consequential in actions. >> will he get the offer? >> harry caray the whole familily in the -- >> if he goes he may go initially to the area in which

they live and like a fortress. and he has a lot of support there. ultimately it will be decided by the balance of force and this is a sectarian war of the sunnis against the others. but it's a war which is preged in the region, sunnis against shiites. i don't think the united states should become a pratagnist. >> i saw a poll thinking 25% of americans think that syria is america's problem. >> it's a responsibility of ours. 62% sid it's not. by the way, a former french county and soviet client state and should be the countries that are involved. i know we have had these tragedies in rwanda. because we go in doesn't mean we will get thrown out. >> i think we will learn something interest inning this

namely, are the russians to be a partner for us in some parts of the world particularly this one or are they most interested in getting us involved and stuck so that we pay huge price and they indirectly benefit from it and we will find out. >> the president said he has talked to putin about the boston bombers but one wondering what the rest of the conversation is about. >> even that is kind of curious. here is the bomber who the russians come and warn us is dangerous. we don't follow up or at least we don't take it seriously. then a year later, he goes to russian. he goes the most violent part of the sort of muslim upriseing in russia, spends there six months and comes back here. what was the russian secret service doing? >> they have a tape of had him talking to his mother along jihadist lines. i'd like to see that tape.

>> what happened brg the six months? he is in a region terrorist groups are operating and they don't touch him and let him come back and we don't hear from them any more. >> he purportedly went over there to get his russian passport. >> the polls sew that most americans don't think syria is a responsibility. we have got 70,000, 80,000 deaths. it may be a hundred thousands. what are the dangers of not only the united states but the international community staying out to the rest of very volatile region? what do you fear could happen worst case scenario? >> the worst case scenario would be america engaged and bogged down for years. >> but if america doesn't get engaged. >> i think it will be fought out on the ground and unless international community gets together and gets overwhelming pressure, whoever is stronger will prevail. >> what about the problem for this country in the muslim community? do people then say america ab

doped us in our hour of need? >> they may but i think they are saying america bombing us and fighting us and that is worse. >> there are drones. >> that's worse. >> yeah. >> not a good choice but better choices and worse choices. >> the europe league has moved quickly against gadhafi but not against assad. >> who hasn't? >> arab league. >> they have moved. who was the sponsor of this country? saudi arabia and qatar. saudis motivated. >> so secretary kerry is headed to russia and meeting with putin as well as the foreign policy. you know kerry's capacity. what does he need to set up with them and is it a possibility? >> well, he has to talk to them and say, look, if you're not careful, this thing may bounce against you too. after all 30 million muslims in

russia. 30 million muslims. based on territory with some genuine grievances against the russians. central asia is becoming more volatile as we get disengaged from afghanistan. i think he may say to the russians, you may need us so be helpful here and be constructive. maybe we can work out a deal by some sort of stability is contrived in syria with assad maybe given the opportunity to run which he then declines and something like that. but, you know, he has to be it tough minded in talking to the russians because the russians can play a double game and give us sympathy while stirring the pot. >> stirring the pot. something your father never does when your mother is away. >> no, he doesn't do that in the family at all over dinner. no. dr. zbigniew brzezinski, thank you. coming up, where the two parties stand when it comes to the balance of power on capitol

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36 past the hour. >> we have new polls out of quinnipiac university this morning. promising news for congressional democrats actually. >> by a slim margin, american

voters say they are more likely to vote for democrats than republicans for congress in 2014. voters trust democrats more on health care but they prefer republicans on the gdeficit and economy. the poll shows more support for gun control on the republicans. up next, people who once supported the president's health care law are now saying its rollout could be, quote, a train wreck. >> well, that was max baucus. >> that is one pay of putting it. we will talk to dr. zeke emanuel and margaret carlson all coming up on "morning joe" when we come back. sorry. sore knee.

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i think that any time you're implementing something big, there's going to be people who are nervous and anxious about is it going to get done? until it's actually done. we have a great team in place. we are pushing very hard to make sure that we're hitting all of the deadlines and the benchmarks. even if we do everything perfectly, there will still be, you know, glitches and bumps and that is pretty much true of every government program that's ever been set up. here with us now is margaret carlson of bloomberg news and dr. zeke emanuel and gary lauer of ehealth insurance.com online

marketplace for health insurance and gary is arguing his company is facing major obstacles to help uninsured people to get the coverage they need to adhere to the affordable care act. let's start there, gary. do the new paper work and different processeses to sign up does that help with the process or change anything for you? >> well, yes. it's all helping. in fact, the application for individuals has been significantly roofed probably even more so would be helpful. our real issue is we were in exchange long before the words exchange and health insurance were in the same sentence. we want to help in chefg this gom. i'm one of the few ceos in supporting this as i think zeke knows. we have to find a way to marry the public and the private sector here so we can achieve this goal. we need to find a way for a company like ehealth and others

to enrolling low income individuals the way the government exchanges want to and leave this all to government, i think, presents a lot of risk. >> it was interesting the president was so aware of that application form yesterday in his press conference. he is clearly in the weeds on this one and he said 21 pages down to 3, meaning the exact numbers of what it was for an individual. >> it is much easier to shop at the massachusetts connector. you put in your zip code. you can see what the options are available and then you do have to fill out a form. i would say that the key to this, mika, which probably hasn't received enough attention, is young people. they are the people who we need to get into the system who frequently don't buy insurance and think they are invincible. massachusetts did a good job performing them and making them aware that the insurance wasn't as expensive as they thought and it would protect them. i think that on the long term is the key and i would like for over the next five months, to

really begin informing them and targeting them to get them used to buying insurance. that is going to be the key. massachusetts one of the things i did was advertise' promote it during red sox games. have you to go with the young people are. >> pretty soon, they will be going into the bar and handing them out. how many pages was your application prior to obama care? three pages now for an individual. did you have a simpler form? are you objecting that three bathes is worse or better? >> three pages is better than where we started from a government standpoint but three pages is still too many. we represent the health insurance carriers. >> one thing the government can't do is bring one uniform application for everyone and i think that is helpful. >> the easier it is for people to get access and understand this daunting complex process, the better it's going to be the more we will get unrolled. on zeke's point, last year at my company we saw almost 20 million americans come to ehealth almost

half of whom were between 18 and 34 years of age. >> how many bought? >> these young people are online. well over 3 million for the history of the company. a large number. more importantly, over 40% of people we see who buy from us were previously uninsured. in fact, if you take that 20 million and assume that all 40 will buy that is 42 of the 40 million we need to cover. even a substrtraction of that. it can only help and get closer achieving what you with like to achieve. >> we're in the same place and everyone wants to get more people into the insurance system and we did -- i mean, there is a place for brokers like yourself that are selling products and i think that has to stay in the system because you can serve a function of educating people until they are used to the system, used to the -- >> there are people who don't know the system exists. >> too many people who don't know. in fact, if you go to google and

key in health insurance you will not find a lot of brokers but you'll find us which is a big exchange much more so than a brokerage. in massachusetts nobody really cares whether it's blue cross or blue shield but they care about the relationship with their physician. at our company, tell us who your physician is and we will show you products that support that physician. >> we need to get to that level. i think shopping for health insurance has to be like going on amazon and i think the president recognizes one or two years to get it all right and we should keep our eye on the ball. by 2020 the health care system will be better because of this law. you can't change something 8.2 trillion in size. >> i agree with that. >> still a political issue and that is the problem. >> it will stop being a political issue when it smoothes out and this is part of -- >> it will take years. >> people say they hate government involvement but they

say i love my medicare. this is how we feel about our government. you're not like a neutral person in this, are you? you're not a government exchange? you're getting paid by somebody? >> we are a private publicly traded profit making company and no if's and's and but's about it. >> do you try to shape up the insurance side? >> we have tried to shape up access. what we have brought is technology, efficiency and better economics and get people access online. this is the perfect thing to do online. in fact, when this law was being drafted, i spent time with the senate finance committee. i got a question do you think these exchanges could work. i said they could work. we have been doing this for ten plus years. the way to get back to your point on the legislation and the way to really make this successful is to get people into the system and get them enrolled. if there is one objective we all share and one common goal, it's that. whether it's government or private sector. if i have one message it's lets

take the best of both and bring them together so we can make this work. and save some taxpayer money. zeke and i were talking about this earlier. >> we have a lot of resistance to set up the exchanges in a lot of states. >> we have. >> so you have republican governors mainly saying we are not going to do it. >> one of the most perplexing things there there is because it would give them a opportunity to control their state exchange and instead defaulted to the. >> we will have a convergence on how they work well. as the president said, we need to keep our eye on the ball immediately there will be things we have to work out and iron out. i agree with you it's political. once it gets into the fabric of everyday life every year we go on the exchange and we select something, then it's just routine. >> let's embrace part of the private sector here to help iron

those things out sooner rather than later. that's something i feel really strongly about and the states aren't going to participate we have been there for years and years. i don't know much about the politics but i know a lot about enrolling people online and we plan to be in every single one of those republican states hopefully, helping people who are subsidy eligible. the most important population we need to get to, low income people who haven't had access. >> young people because they bring -- >> healthy people. >> young, generally healthy. >> right. >> we are trying to fix this. let me get one more story before we go to break because we were being told to go to break before i lost my -- the food and drug administration is rolling out plans to make the plan b morning after pill available over the counter without prescription. to girls as young as 15 years old. however, the fda's decision

could be nothing more than symbolic in a number days. last month the federal agency was ordered to make plan b available to the women over the count regardless of age. currently the emergency contraception is available to girls under 17 with a prescription. contraception is available to girls under 17 with prescription and all other women must request the pill from a pharmacist. the white house has until may 5th to reveal the april ruling. this is loaded. >> i was with the president when he said common sense tells me i don't want my daughters -- when you think of your own daughter, you don't want this. on the other hand, as a matter of public policy, you do want it, because we have this terrible issue on abortion. why don't we first of all get contraceptive in the hands of people and secondly, get plan b out there? >> as a father of three daughters, i am sympathetic to the president's view of you don't want to think about your daughters especially at age 15

having sex and having to think about the consequences. on the other hand, i think as margaret pointed out, first of all, they have tested the availability to young women. they asked the drug company to do that. they did it. i think the judge is saying you made a test and seemed to work and got in here to that and i think this move down is an attempt to thread the needle. >> thank you very much. still ahead, the president once again pledges to close guantanamo bay crawling it a recruitment tool for droiss. will this time be any different? we'll discuss that when we come back. [ agent smith ] i've found software that intrigues me. it appears it's an agent of good.

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federal investigators expanding their search for several persons of interest in the boston marathon bombing. they're looking for individuals that may have had contact with the tsarnaev brothers and they're tracking the handgun the older brother used during the shootout with police and a review has been launched to make sure information was properly shared between the top

counter-terrorism agencies leading up to the bombing. president obama defended the law enforcement groups yesterday says the fbi and they performed their responsibilities in exemplary fashion. a heated town hall exchange as one of the senators who voted against a background checks bill is confronted by a family member of a newtown victim. we'll be mac with much more "morning joe."

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msnbc. >> good morning. 8 a.m. on the east coast, 5 a.m. on the west coast as you take a live look at new york city. sam stein, al hunt, and kelly o'donnell. sam, you were at the white house yesterday, the president held a press conference. not great reviews for the president. actually, jonathan coral i think asked a question and let's start the press conference with this and kel me what was going on. >> you still have the juice to get the rest of your agenda through this congress? >> if i put it that way, john, maybe i just pack up and go home. golly. as mark twain said are you mys of my demise may be exaggerated at this point.

>> may be exaggerated but somehow to get congress mind bendings awful to do the stuff he they want him to do, it is leadership. they think he can do stuff from the wall loan and follow along and that's not how it works. howard fein men wrote the same thing. about the president admit yesterday he couldn't get in his agenda through congress, he is a lame duck. >> the back drop is the gun debate, the inability to get something through the senate and what happened with sequestration and the air traffic delays and the quick fix he did not want and admitted essentially the 60 vote hurdle in senate that he has to overcome is a really big hurdle and you doesn't have the persuasive powers at this juncture to guarantee anything

and it was saying it will pass, it will pass, but on other items, i78 really -- my hands are tied behind my back. what we really understated throughout this presidency is how much he misses earmarks and ways to get lawmakers to come to the cause that are subtle, behind the scenes and ultimately effect ty and i think it is an under told story. >> the word that came out of the press conference yesterday, i heard from so many people he was reactive. this is the "washington post" this morning. 100 days into the second term pram lost control of the ajend if he ever had control in the first place. he ricochetted between issues and crisis not of his choice. obama seemed odd will yly like

spectator. maureen talks about the did you understander heads in congress. >> even when you were there. >> correct you. especially when i was there. there were nor dunder heads per squaer inch. >> it was even worse before. we are at a strange point the president is not even six months into his second term and already looks like a lame duck. to many people that are top an mists. >> this is a familiar pattern sometimes in second terms and you look back at six months, it is like my washington nationals. expectations are high and he is barely keeping his head above water. he won an impressive re-election. he thought republicans would be less resistant. i agree with sam. >> isn't that fascinating, al, a lot of us talking to the president before and talking to

the president's people, and they really believed the re-election would make republicans lay down their swords. >> they did. >> and bend them into plow shares and it didn't happen. >> it didn't happen. >> everyone warned him it would be just as tough for the second term as the first. >> they thought they would avoid sequestration. that was the first huge defeat and followed by guns and if you look at the whole new agenda he laid out, the state of the union, universal preschool education, climate change. >> so what does the president do? how did he get control of his aaend a? >> one step at a time and part of the concern is the insiders. does he have the insiders he ought to have and he can recoup some. i don't think a budget deal is out of the question. they can keep coming back on guns. back ground checks aren't necessarily dead, and i think

you can get immigration. when you start to put together a package like that he doesn't become fdr but at least he isn't a lame dumb. >> at the end of the year and i have seen this repeated lir, every time you start counting somebody out, you get to the end of the year and say wait a second. he got immigration reform, the background checks, small budget. >> that's not a bad year. >> and if health care survives. only one second. let's go to yesterday's press conference where the president faced tough questions about a revolt at gitmo. he said he wants it closed. take a listen. >> i think it is critical for us to understand that guantanamo is not necessary to people america safe.

it is expensive. it is inefficient. it hurts us and in terms of our international standing. it lessens cooperation with our allies on counter-terrorism efforts. it is a recruitment tool for extremists. it needs to be close the. i don't want these individuals to die. obviously the pentagon is trying to manage the situation as best they can, but i think all of us should reflect on why exactly are we doing this? >> kelly, the president said gitmo is not necessary. he said it is expensive. it hurts us, it lessens cooperation, it is a recruitment tool and promised on the campaign trail he would close it within a year. >> an argument i am sure he never imagined he would be making. >> i have a hard time george w. bush would be ringing his hands four years in doing something

that he said i am going to do. >> very different thing. when you talk about defeatist i got a sense of subdued from the president that there were issuing he was talking about he wish he weren't talking about, out laning his issues on guantanamo and he talks about how congress put up every barrier and talking about moving prisoners to his own state of illinois. very frustrating. we have seen allies around the world that want it closed and also those that have not cooperated by taking any of those in prison there. it was a tough news conference for the president. he wasn't able to make a lot of news in his own way. there was a lot of dealing with issues. >> how can the president turn it around? you're on capitol hill all the time. he can get an immigration bill even though rubio says the one out there is dead on arrival. you can see a deal there. i understand in the house peter king is moving forward with a

background checks bill. >> that comes around a second time and they get something on background checks to show persistence can pay off. in the senate side, they aren't giving up. nothing like success to create more success. if he could do what he wants on immigration and there certainly is an enter in the country that wants to see that happen. they're listening to those. >> background checks, immigration. >> smallest. anything on that front would be an accomplishment. >> the frustration of course is the president owns the senate. he really does. he has democratic senate. he's 16, 18 under in the house,

but, again, this is not i president -- we criticized him for four years, that does deals, that does what reagan did, call democrats in. you weren't even born. when awax, dead on arrival, ronald reagan called one member after another member over. lbj. >> i notice the dig in my age. >> you had to be alive. >> your parents probably weren't born during lbj. >> i know. i know. >> what about bill clinton. you could impeach bill clinton in the morning, i swear, and in the afternoon he was doing a daily. >> that sounds like a country song. >> to al's point, i think we're in instant gratification mode and we need to step back and say these will take awhile. such as background, after it

died in the senate, you awe this polling that came out showed that people voted against the bill were suffering and people supporting it were benefitting and that lays the groundwork for something longer term legislatively. everything will take a bit of time. back to the first part i made which is i think we're under stating the fact that obama is really ham strung by the lack of ear marks and the lack of park he can handout to get them to the table. he has a fair amount of sticks including organizing for america left over and his popularity and the ability to go out to a district and shame a congresswoman or congressman from acts. >> one of the great intended consequences. they want to get rid of the ear marks. >> when you have 60 vote thresholds and 55 democrats, you still need to give the carrots to five republican senators at a

minimum. >> i agree with that but some of the analogy are at least a stretch. i remember in 1986, reagan came back and came with clinton. they did have more members of the opposition party they could deal with. they got the tax through. is there a bill bradley or republican gronkowski today? i think not. i think it is a harder environment. i think our criticism of the way obama functions politically is dead on. i think there is a lot of short comings there but the a harder environment. >> a lot of nostalgia for those. >> i don't think the republican party is blameless. >> that's what i am saying. >> i think there is the mantra that says if we compromise with with this guy we're vulnerable electorally. >> you have a situation where very few of the house members are scared or feel threatened. they think they're secured.

a little is redistricting. more is population patterns. there is almost no chance i believe for the democrats. >> free agents, so many people are free agents and you don't have the party leaders to pull them one way or another. talking about background checks, the plan to expand background checks to all commercial cells has been announced in the house. mike thompson from california say they have now more than 100 and those in the sfat are finding themselves in hot water in their home states. we showed you jeff flake's approval writings and rob in ohio and one of the senators kelly ayotte of new hampshire facing angry voters back home as she works to defend that vote against background checks for criminals. >> i took a lot of heat i will say from even members of my own party that didn't like the fact

that i voted to vote a debate on this issue because i do -- we can have strong disagreements but ultimately everything should be debated and discussed. >> we showed the poll a couple days ago, her approval rating down 15 percentage points. shocked a lot of people a couple days ago when i said something nice about ted cruz. when he sat down, had the guts to sit down and talk to the newtown family members and explain why he was against the bill, and kelly ayotte, you and i have even a lot of congressman, congresswoman, senators hide in their offices. maybe she had to do this. maybe pause she lost 15 percentage points. she had to know. >> this was previously scheduled. >> she had to know she couldn't cancel it. she had to go out and she knew there would be bad clips out of it.

>> i think it is a bit for her to say i took heat for the vote and i don't think new hampshire is a huge antigun control state. i know it is not. i think if john mccain can vote for it, why can't jeff flake vote for it? rob portman in ohio? i think there is theet that can be put on a handful. you can't win that vote unless you get four or five more republicans. >> president obama stopped short of saying syria across the red line but administration is leaning towards arming the rebels. we'll be with the president and ceo of the atlantic council and next chucked to will be here and casey hunt was at senator kelly ayotte's town hall meeting and he will join us as well. >> a cruel forecast in the midwest. interesting. their pain is our gain on the

east coast and the west coast with this perfect great spring and early summer weather. cheyenne had had about 8 inches of snow over night and it is snowing in colorado. this is the denver area. at least the roads aren't too bad. the ground is covered with an inch or two and it is still snowing. it is 33 in denver. windchill is in the 20s. this is the worst in denver. it will get better from here. >> we'll focus our attention further to the north. around minneapolis, it could be cool. we will watch rain changing over to snow. heavy snow when you drive home from work later today and from the kids from school. we're worried about them. early dismissal because of snow possible may 1st? that's the case in northern iowa and also in minneapolis. one of my computers, this is off the charts insane, is predicting as much as 6 to 12 ininches in

purple. this would be record shattering for the biggest snowstorm late in the season. it is a possibility. it will probably be 6 to 9 in the twin cities. strong storms in texas today but not too many tornados. if you want to do something entertaining, leave chicago in shorts and drive to minneapolis and help them shovel snow later tonight. you're watching "morning joe." don't drive in this stuff if you can prevent it. [ ship horn blows ] no, no, no! stop! humans. one day we're coming up with the theory of relativity, the next... not so much.

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you mentioned that day owners of gun stores that background checks would cause and i am wondering why the burden of pi mother being gunned down in an elementary school isn't important. why isn't it as important. >> eric, let me just say that i am obviously so sorry and as everyone here no matter what our views are for what you have been through and i think that rs ultimately what we look at what happened in sandy hook, i think that's what drove this whole discussion, all of us want to

make sure that doesn't happen again. >> that was new hampshire's republican senator kelly ayotte responding to questions on her gun vote from erika lafferty, a daughter of one of the teachers killed during the newtown shooting. after the senator's answer erika walked out telling reporters afterward she had enough. with us, someone in the room during the exchange, casey hunt and joining the table and host of the daily rundown, chuck todd and sam stein back with us. >> casey, i love when you go to new hampshire primaries and there will be one person from new hampshire in a coffee shop drinking a cup of coffee and everyone else from manhattan. >> yeah. >> break down what we saw in there. were there actually any new hampshire voters in the town hall he meeting ar were they all gun control advocates or nra supporters. >> this is a tiny town where

this happened, 900 people and i talked to the troun administrator and said he recognized about 30%, so when 30% from around there. it is a small town. he would not. this is a lot of activity on both sides. you have organizing from the washington on the one hand and the kelly ayotte supporters came with the handwritten, that are not handwritten signs and the gun control supporters with printed signs which came from mayors against illegal drugs. rob portman down a good bit. you look at quinnipiac poll showing pat toomey up 7 percentage points. >> he had a lot more to gain. with voters who normally wouldn't have been -- >> what about jeff flaik collapsing the way jeff flake

has. >> it is interesting that flake at first disputed one of the polls out and over night going, well, he is taking it on the chin a little bit and admitting that some of this is hitting. you were bringing up this -- and casey used the phrase grass tops and outside groups. it was grass tops and outside groups that created the grassroots and did help start the fire on health care for conservatives. don't under estimate this stuff and that it doesn't have an impact because you do this constantly and you do this at their town halls. lawmakers have one of two things to do. they can start canceling town halls. that's not good politics, or it starts becoming a real grassroots -- >> i would cancel if i were her, sorry. >> new hampshire is -- >> can't do it in new hampshire. >> it is such an intimate state, seemed to me and there is no place for kelly or any politician to run and hide in

that state if 75% of the people are against you on an issue this emotional, at many point she will have to find her way forward. what were you hearing around the town? >> the one thing, and you raised this in your point which is to say new hampshire is an intimate place and to a certain extent they will judge her based on what they already know about her. this isn't the big state where the only thing voters are hearing is she voted this way on the gun vote and a lot of what i heard is people saying, look, i don't agree with her and this isn't the way i wish she would have voted and i trust her and i might be willing to forgive her on this. that's unique to this particular state. it may not play out that way across the country. >> given what you just said, chuck, how did she do in her answer. >> i thought she did okay. she knew it was coming. it is interesting they put an inner powerpoint. you wouldn't formally if you are a republican senator, you wouldn't put the gun vote there unless you knew most people

showing up at your town hall would be curious about it. i think they seemed more -- dame across a little more prepared than normal. >> you can see this coming. i at least can see it coming. i have seen it before where people go up and make a vote and it is an ugly vote. i saw this with bill clinton. we passed welfare reform. we send it a second time, he vetoed it again. we sat back and laughed. we said weerp going to send it a third time. at some point he is going to have to find an excuse to support this. we knew. the numbers were on our side. i see the same thing here. you can almost see jeff flai and jelly ayotte and rob portman especially. he knows where the middle of america is because he lives in middle america. they're looking for an excuse. >> any republican in a presidential year, the question

is where is the sweet spot in the political calendar? we discussed this i think a couple days ago. that's it. you make one willing change and you put it in the sweet spot in the calendar after a filing deadline passes, sometimes straight lightning and that's real if you want to see this because suddenly it is a general erection play. >> can they wait that long? the pressure is not going to let up. >> yeah. >> these newtown victims are particularly effective, and they have really mags this decision they're going to continue. she drove four hours yesterday from connecticut up to new hampshire to come to this, and at that point the senator really didn't have like chuck was saying a strong response for her. what do you say in that situation when someone says my mother died. how does spun like senator ayotte come back and talk to her and she didn't make any of the arguments some of the gun rights kbrupz have been saying. she wasn't saying in defense of the second amendment or could

lead to a gun registry. >> and also couldn't say what i know every n. ra supporter was thinking at the time, it wouldn't have saved your mom's life. we couldn't say that on tv. >> you can say that in person. >> i think she could? >> no, how do you say that in not a normal human being. >> when you are sitting five, six, seven feet away from somebody, you can't say i understand that but background checks wouldn't have changed your mom's life. >> and it it would not prevent the newtown shooting. >> she did try to say that. >> it is a terrible position to be in. >> it is. the one thing to throw a little cold water on, this chris matthews brought it up, the intensity of the voters and i am curious to see what it is. maybe 18% more likely to vote for flake because of that but they will vote, right? that's just the worry.

>> i don't think we're playing this right. i think there is something we're missing here. >> if you ask about kra contraception at the beginning of the 2012 campaign, contraception? but you again republicans stumbling on that issue because of rick santorum long enough, i said this before, suddenly you have got even around my household women sitting around the table that never voted for a democrat before going, you know what, if my party is this crazy, if we're talking about contraception, i am not going to vote. this is one of those issues people won't say gun control is important to me or background checks. they will look at the party and go this republican party, this party has gotten too crazy. >> is it a trip wire for that conversation. >> it is a trip wire. >> the common sense. >> the common sense.

it comes down to common sense. we debated extra sepgs. the supreme court took care of it in 1965. i don't want my party fighting that. the trip wire where people are going we have a terrorist saying our background check system makes it easier to kill americans. he's on the fbi most wanted list. this isn't like a liberal think tank cooking this up. kelly ayotte talked to law enforcement officers in new hampshire. she is the attorney general, right. >> she was. >> you talked to police officers up there, do they want background checks for criminals? do they want tough gun trafficking laws? >> of course. >> hell, yeah. there is that disconnect, too. >> i talked to a gun store owner yesterday. we went to riley's gun shop, a frequent stop on the republican primary campaign trail and he has been working with ayotte for

years and said i haven't always agreed with her in part because she was part of law enforcement and was trying to do things his shop didn't necessarily want to see happen. >> but gun shop owners, don't a lot of them -- >> they have to do it. why do they want there to be sbn internet loophole. why should they want an internet loophole? it is better smarter business practice for them to have a fair level playing field. >> that's the other thing the owner of the shop said, ralph, this really wouldn't have affected my business. >> right. gun shows and internet stuff. >> that internet loophole is something everybody can grasp on. >> by the way, you talk to americans that aren't that ideological, and you start telling them that what you start showing them what people can buy on the internet without a criminal background check, what terrorists can buy on the internet without a criminal

background check, and they go what? are you kidding me? this is common sense. this is about common sense. this isn't about the second amendment. this isn't about assault weapons. this isn't about high capacity magazines. this is about common sense. >> i think if they had pushed on the internet loophole harder than -- not every american has been to a gun show. every american has been on the internet. i think that is one of those everybody can grasp that one. >> i think it was a powerful moment the one you witnessed firsthand, the town hall yesterday and because it comes to common sense, i think it was a tough win politically for kelly ayotte but i was cringing last night. >> i wouldn't want to be jeff flaik in arizona with gabby giffords in that state. i am saying with gabby giffords in that state and john mccain

supporting background checks. >> he has to find as ways to a common sense approach. >> five years. >> but no politician that likes money wants to be the 30s. you have an approval rating in the 30s, as you know, schuk, you walk around washington, d.c. and it impacts everything you do from what you raise to what assignments you get to how much deference you're shown and legislation, it is -- >> i think the think that hurt flake was not just the vote, that he was revealed that he had written a personal handwritten float to one of the newtown family members saying he supported background checks. he left it evaluation but the impression was he would support the bill. >> this is turning into a harder thing for the first -- this is basically the first major vote and it is the first impression. that's dangerous for these guys, the first impression with voters as a senator. >> chuck todd, we'll seal you on

the daily rundown and casey hunt, thank you as well. coming up, the use of chemical weapons in syria could be a game changer for america's involvement in that country's civil war. the president of the atlantic council joins us with philanthropist adrian arsh. both maxwell and ted have hail damage to their cars. ted is trying to get a hold of his insurance agent. maxwell is not. he's on geico.com setting up an appointment with an adjuster. ted is now on hold with his insurance company. maxwell is not and just confirmed a 5:30 time for tuesday. ted, is still waiting. yes! maxwell is out and about... with ted's now ex-girlfriend. wheeeee! whoo! later ted! online claims appointments. just a click away on geico.com. we believe it can be the most valuable real estate on earth.

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welcome back to "morning joe." you have to stop saying that jeff flake needs to quit. >> i think he should. >> he is a nice guy. >> he might be a nice guy. >> we like jeff flake. there is going to be another bill that comes up. >> no. it is just not going to help him. he knows it himself. he is very self aware. tell me what his facebook page says, sam. >> alex, you have the facebook page. what did jeff say this morning. >> nothing like waking up to a poll saying you're the nation's least popular senator. given the dim view in congress in general it probably puts me somewhere below pond scum. >> that's good, though. le figure out how to move up above pond scum. it is kind of bad if you wake up and you're the least popular

member of congress. >> one poll. one week gl and just elected. >> i will try to amend my statement. >> he has five years. he figures out a way to get out of this attorney and suddenly he could say we love him? >> if he votes for background checks and mental health and fred kemp joins us and philanthropist and my friend adrian arkh who be hon trd at the dinner i am desperate to go to. we have gone every year. >> she says she is old friends. don't cross her in background checks. >> wow. >> the two of you have been moderators for four years. >> i am so sad. >> like billy kris call and the oscars, you can't replace you, so we're not. we're going to replace you instead with the voice of god that will introduce people from somewhere in the stratosphere and saying we might decide joe would find that appropriate. >> yes, actually.

>> very good. so let's talk first of all this morning, let's do business first and salt lake city about syria. fred, obviously dr. bra sin ski was on and talking about the importance of america staying out. what happens? we're at 80,000 killed now. at what point is this a humanitarian crisis we just can't turn our backs? >> secretary hagel has just come back from the middle east. secretary kerry is spend ago lot of time on this. you are starting to see a lean towards more action and i disagree with your father and it is easy with him not being here, but he said we can'ting pro tag nist. but we are protagonist when we don't take action. if he is so akwar of sectarianism breaking out, and i know that's the key worry in the obama administration, what keeps it from breaking out? it is not having a bunch of sectarian run countries taking

lead. the u.s. has to lean in a little more t doesn't mean troops on the ground. there has to be something between iraq invasion. >> where is europe? where is france? where is germany? what is their position. >> waiting for u.s. leadership. they're worried about sectarianism as well. they get more blow back in europe because it is so much closer geographically. they're mierd in their internal problems and not looking externally as much as they do and very often they realize they can't do it all themselves as in libya and until the u.s. puts down its mark and it is which is what we're going to do. >> what does it say about america when we jumped in whether far fewer were killed in bosnia or kosovo bit let 100,000 die in syria and say it is not our problem? you look at the polls, superflushof 0% of americans,

65% of americans say syria is not our problem. >> it isn't easy. if you look at the air defenses of syria, it is special. if you look when assad falls, the prospect that you could have something that is more radical replacing him. also a possibility their bad and worse outcomes but if we're not engaged more deeply than we are, we don't have a seat at the table and sooner or later assad is not in power any longer and we have to be in a position where we can bring people together. >> i have a question if that's all right. i will jump in. what's to say that our rebels wouldn't increase the possibility of civilian casualties? why is that the presumptive answer? the goal is to lessen the amount of civilian depths. >> i am not sure arming them alone is the answer. you have to keep the opposition together and you have to keep radical elements from continuing to infiltration the opposition.

the more there is chaos, the more you have extremists gaining power which is what happened thus far. if assad had come in more early you would have less sectarian violence than now. it is too late to stop that violin. arming the rebels makes no sense if you don't accompany this with a real diplomatic issue. >> talk about tonight and the distinguished leadership award for the atlanta council, a great event on a number of levels and important as well. adrian, tonight the atlantic council officials launches the adrian arsh atlantic center and talk to us about this. >> the interest really came about when he moved to miami in 1996 to run my bank this was hispanic, spanish founded and it was the clue that it was the key today and the more i lived there

i felt if south america floated off in the panama canal it would be written up in the miami herald and that's it. when i moved back here after selling my bank i ran around town talking about this, and fred and the atlanta council heard it and heard me and decided they would back that concept and wanted to. >> tell me what you're hoping to flish through this. it is an investment on part of the atlantic council and your part, adrienne. are you hoping to spread awareness and also promote change on? >> everyone is talking about the pivot to asia, but we see the world in an inflection point and that's as important adds 1918, 1945, 1985. this gets to syria, too. each situation the u.s. made a difference. the u.s. only has 19% of global gdp now. it had 50% in 1945. you only make a difference with

allies. first we have to work closely with europe. if you put europe, latin america, and the u.s. together it is the most powerful community of values and the migest and most dynamic community in the world. it looks different. we don't have 19%. with europe we have nearly 507% and latin america we have more than 50%. it changes the whole equation. >> what are some of the great challenges in latin america right now? obviously you have quite a few countries that are hostile to the united states and certainly not allied with us. what do we do to be more lined up in. >> this is perhaps not only political but also from a trade standpoint education, cities that need to focus on their infrastructure. i think we look at areas, the united states learns where we go to wore and we're really not. we're letting south america sit

there and you take a look at the economy in brar zil, you were talking to annie lourie earlier about brazil being brought up twice and that's probably more than the entire past month. brazil is one of the most significant economies, and politically we have difference of opinions, but we're not at war. that's a good point. >> we have a few seconds left and i want my presents. >> she always brings presents. >> tonight at the atlantic council i am giving everybody the book about south america entirely. we will have receiving awards tony bennett and wuanis from columbia and the two of them, tony and juanis will sing a duet. if you miss that, you can take a look and tomorrow is your birthday and we're giving

everyone a chocolate cake from europe. >> i will have that right now. >> secretary clinton will be introduced by henry kissinger. one thing. >> hard to say one thing, fred. >> she makes things happen as a business person, philanthropist. we code named this project the lindsay vaughn project after the gold medalist skier because when she is on hill you want to be on the team or get out of the way. >> that tells the story. >> thank you so much. >> ank. very good to have you both on the show. enjoy tonight. we'll be will next year. >> business up next. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] this one goes out to all the allergy muddlers.

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you can have a little piece but we're going to eat the whole thing. obsessed is coming up next week. >> happy early birthday. let's go to michelle. what's happening with apple today? >> apple is a huge story because the up company borrowed a ton of money, $17 billion. that is the largest corporate borrowing in history. why on earth does the richest company in the world want to borrow money? it speaks to two dominant stories right now. how weird corporate tax trukts are all over the world because a lot of apple's cash sits overseas and they don't to want repatriate it to the united states because they have to pay taxes all over again and then they borrow money because it costs nothing to borrow money. they'll use that to return money to shareholders through buybacks or dividends, et cetera.

is it really speaks to the idea we have to talk about the corporate tax code here in the united states and how it puts american companies at a big disadvantage in the global economy. >> absolutely crazy. you're right. you borrow money for free and so you have weird incentives? the incentivised borrowing. >> nice color choice, today. >> you are wearing the same color. >> say hi to adrienne. she is trisks. >> we love her. >> we shall return. >> just a minute. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] there are hybrids. ♪ then there are turbo hybrids. introducing the first hybrid you'll actually want to drive.

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it is time to talk about what we learned. sam, i learned you, bob costa, reporting that ted cruz is considering a presidential run. could i speak for the rest of media? i hope he gets it. >> please, please, please do it. that would be great. >> that would be wonderful. i learned that. i learned tomorrow it is your birthday and she can have her cake and eat it, too. >> yes, i am obsessed about this cake. >> her book obsessed comes out later. >> the distinguished lead herrer ship awards tonight r tonight. >> today is a big day. tomorrow is a big day. today t.j. and i celebrating 10 years together. >> whoa. >> poor t.j. >> somebody spent 10 years with

you. >> we vehicle working together ten yours now. he has even eps come and go. happy anniversary. >> you never quit on us. >> really? >> he did. >> i never did. >> that didn't work out too well, did it? >> it is way too recall. et "morning joe." stick around. we're kblarsed. >> no camera chronicling the fact we talked to each other this morning. >> can we blame t.j. >> yes. >> come on, guys. come on. now we go to the guy on the other side. >> thank you, brother. the bay state battle is set, a veteran and democratic kwam medicaid